drones

Happy Friday! Nothing kicks off a weekend like a wheelbarrow-full of deals, and today I couldn't settle on just one. In fact, I'm pretty bad at math; there may actually be more than five here. Can't bother counting; I'm too busy buying stuff!

Droning on and on I've always wanted one of these, but couldn't (wouldn't!) pay the $299 list price. Now I'm sorely tempted.

We've seen quite a few unusual uses for drones in the past year, including everything from pizza drops to Amazon deliveries. But what if you could deliver a whole person? It might not be that much of a stretch if a video showing two RC helicopters lifting a woman off the ground is real.

German group HeliGraphix specializes in using RC helicopters for filming and stunts. The group's HULC (Heavy Ultra-Lifter Crane) project took two Gaui X7 helicopters and upgraded the equipment to handle more weight, enough to lift a person. Lady Gaga required a massive flying contraption to achieve the same effect the two relatively small copters recently pulled off.… Read more

What would be the fastest way to get DVD rentals to materialize in users' hands the moment they added them to their queue? The US Postal Service? No. Bike messenger? No. Delivery drones? Just maybe...

With a tongue-in-cheek YouTube video, Netflix takes a friendly jab at its competitor Amazon and its announcement last year that it was working on delivery drones. The parody video broadcasts the roll out of a "groundbreaking" new feature called "Drone 2 Home."

"Now we are getting back to our creative roots with our groundbreaking, same-day, home delivery subscription service: Drone … Read more

That seems to be the question Rolls-Royce is trying to ask, as it works to develop what amounts to drone freighters, ships that could one day radically disrupt the massive global shipping industry.

According to Bloomberg, Rolls-Royce's Blue Ocean development team has been working on the drone freighters in a bid to make shipping cheaper, cleaner, and safer. The organization is running a virtual-reality prototype at an office in Norway that mimics a 360-degree view from the ship's bridge. Bloomberg reported that the ships could be deployed in regions like … Read more

Namibia's Ministry of Environment and Tourism, along with the World Wildlife Fund, have partnered to invest in drones that can track rhino and elephant herds, the organizations told New Scientist for a story published Friday. Google helped fund the drone research, which was conducted in November. Through the use of the drones, the researchers were able to follow herds and alert law enforcement in the event the animals were being targeted by poachers.

In hard-to-reach war zones, it can be near impossible to get supplies to ground soldiers or conduct rescue missions without coming under enemy fire or landing in minefields.

Spurred by these logistical issues, the US Department of Defense in its DARPA division is pushing to develop unmanned helicopter-like aircraft -- aka drones -- for supply runs, airborne reconnaissance missions, and casualty evacuations.

Not your ordinary drones, these futuristic machines will be designed to carry up to 3,000 pounds, have their own power system, fuel, digital flight controls, and remote command-and-control interfaces. As envisioned by DARPA, troops will be able … Read more